While the origins of Australia Day are somewhat dubious (the British claiming another people's land as their own), the opportunity to showcase Australia to the blogosphere is certainly fun. This year, I have been amused by some of the creative twist on Aussie iconic food (see list below). Like the humble Tim Tam biscuit. Two chocolate biscuits sandwiched together with chocolate cream and covered in milk chocolate.

I was slightly concerned about making brownies to celebrate Australia
Day. They are about Australian as Superbowl and Oreos. I never had
brownies while I was a child. Yet the spirit of these brownies is very
Australian.

As a child, we always had a packet of biscuits in the
cupboard to 'bake' with. (Think grubs, hedgehog or chocolate ripple
cake.) And while it was always plainer than Tim Tams (an occasional
treat), I think I might claim that Tim Tams are Australia's answer to
oreos.Other than Tim Tams, this recipe is just like the sort that our grandmothers would make with plain ingredients that were in every Australian pantry.

So here is my present for you on Australia Day. Oozy gooey chocolatey tim tam brownies with a crunchy creamy biscuit interior that surprises and delights. (Except if you are my 4 year old Sylvia who just takes the brownies off and eat the biscuits!)

I couldn't wait to try these as they came out of the oven just as I was rushing out the door to go to the movies with E. I took some crumbly bits in a tub. E groaned at the messiness and then asked if I wanted any more because it tasted so good. (The movie was Inside Llewyn Davis. Very bleak but beautiful and thoughtful too.) The real reason I made them was for a picnic at the zoo last night.

It is some years since we have been to Twilights at the Zoo. Last night we saw an ABBA tribute group, Babba. They were lots of fun and I knew all the songs. We a haggis balls (more later on them) for our picnic followed by brownies and fruit. I was unusually restrained with the food and we found ourselves going for an ice cream after watching the lions roaring at interval.

Last night was our Australia Day celebration and today we are having a quiet one. Just a swim is planned. I would have loved to go to the Share the Spirit Festival in the Treasury Gardens. If only I had the energy I would. It is a celebration of our Indigenous community, which will be even more joyous for the announcement that the Australian of the Year is Adam Goodes, Aboriginal AFL player and anti-racism campainer!

Finally, I leave you with some links to iconic and fun Aussie recipes. Above (from top left clockwise) are an artist's impression of Vegemite at the Orange Adventure Playground, tinned beetroot with patriotic packaging, a jaffa twist on lamingtons and my mum's pavolva with cream and peppermint crisp on top. Wishing you some Aussie yumminess and a happy Australia Day.

Melt butter in a heatproof medium mixing bowl in the microwave (or on the stovetop in a medium saucepan). Stir in cocoa and brown sugar, then eggs and vanilla to make a glossy thick batter. Stir in plain flour and salt. Spread a thicn amount of batter in the base of the cake tin. My batter was so thick and sticky that it took a bit of effort to spread. Arrange tim tams on batter. (There will be some space between them.) Pour the rest of the batter over the tim tams so they are covered.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the brownie smells baked and a skewer comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs or a slight moisture is ok - the brownie is very sludgy). Cool in the tin. Cut into squares with a sharp knife.

27 comments:

What a great recipe Johanna! And you have made me wish I'd approached Australia with greater interest in creating adventurous twists on Australian food...all I did was make vegan lamingtons (following the recipe you adapted previously), which were great, but hardly novel :)

We also bought those jaffa lamingtons a few weeks ago to take to a game afternoon with Mr Bite's brother - Mr B loves jaffa flavours and lamingtons so he enjoyed them a lot.

They do look fab! Easily veganisable too I daresay, with those vegan Tim Tam dopelgangers (ie those really expensive biscuits)! Years ago I was introduced to a 'Tim Tam Slam' (where you bite the ends off and use the Tim Tam as a straw to suck up hot tea). I never looked back! I don't miss Tim Tams but if I found a version that tasted much more like them than the current offerings, I'd snap them up quick smart! The brownies really do look delicious.

Thanks Veganopoulous - I think I have seen these tim tam doppelgangers (as you so charmingly phrase it). I never really got into the tim tam slam - never into doing it with alcohol or coffee and what did that leave me - hot chocolate or tea which just didn't seem right!

That is SUCH a clever idea! I haven't had a TimTam for years - probably not since the days we used to use them as 'straws' to drink Bailey's and milk. The thought of that now makes me feel ill! I love it that Sylvia ignored the brownie mixture in favour of the TimTam. What a good little Australian she is!

Happy Australia Day Johanna! Those brownies look to die for. I've heard of tim tams before- probably through blogs- but I'm not sure we have an equivalent here. The whole picnic/music celebration sounds right up my street.

Happy Australia Day to you, JOHANNA and your lovelies! Wow, I didn’t know brownies are very Australian - I just made them on an Instagram from an awesome vegan cookbook and they were fudgy, lovely and delicious!

Thanks Cakelaw - you would have loved Babba - they were having so much fun on stage that it was infectious and they made everyone get up and dance to the two last songs - Waterloo and Dancing Queen (oh those songs take me back!)

I love this brownie idea! I bought a packet of original Tim Tams a few months ago. They've really changed over the years and the original ones are delicious but I'm not so fussed about the current ones!

Thanks Lorraine - we don't have Tim Tams often - I quite like the new flavours - these brownies would be great with caramel tim tams - but I didn't know that the original is different to the modern one

I think I prefer plain brownies & eating Tim Tams with a glass of port.I made ANZAC biscuits with rice flour to celebrate Australia Day. The mixture was a little on the dry side, so added a little water which made the cookies spread & gave them a "lacy" look. But they still tasted great. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Thanks for dropping by. I love hearing from you. Please share your thoughts and questions. Annoyingly the spammers are bombarding me so I have turned on the pesky captcha code (refresh to find an easy one if you don't like the first one)

Search Green Gourmet Giraffe

About Me

Recipes and reflections in which our vegetarian heroine dreams of being tall and graceful as a giraffe; being a goddess in the kitchen; and being gladdened by green gadgets, green food and green politics because green is the colour of hope. See About Me for more info.